Kids club - 4 yr old - I'm nervous!

[kbkids]

I was okay about leaving my DS4, but after reading a couple of posts about this age group, I'm getting nervous. The posts I read talked about them paging you if your child is not participating, i.e. simply playing by himself. This is my child to a tee. He turns 4 in May (we sail in October), and he is VERY shy and prefers to play by himself. He is in preschool 3 days a week and does play well with the other kids, but he prefers to sit and play with his trucks even at preschool. His teachers say he takes about an hour to "warm up" and come hang out with the group. He will do group activities, but it takes some encouraging. He's not one to wander off, but he's not going to dive into something if there are a bunch of kids around. He won't do it even if it is kids he knows. Is this going to be a problem?

 

[virginiamama]

My DS4 (almost 5 now) did fine in the clubs. He's the kid who won't hit the pinata at a party, if you know what I mean. Too many people, too much going on... I'd be sure and tell the CM at the clubs about your child's usual interaction and I'm sure they'd do everything they could to make sure he has a good time. If you put him in the club while you have dinner at Palo, spa ressies, etc. be sure to tell the CMs at the club. They will take extra care to avoid having to call you away from the dinner/spa. I hope you all have a great time!

 

[kbkids]

He's the kid who won't hit the pinata at a party, if you know what I mean.

I know EXACTLY what you mean!!

 

[mickeyboat]

Two points -

The counselors really try hard to engage all of the kids in the Club. There are a lot of "craft" type activities, so your son will be able to work alone, but still be with the other kids. There is also some free time, where the kids run all around, especially around the pirate ship. That may be a little intimidating for him. Check the Navigators and see which activities you think he would like.

Also, my kids weren't huge fans of the Club (3 and 4 at the time) until Thursday on the Magic. We did ask them to stay in the Club when we went to Palo, and we spent a lot of time letting them play in the Club while we stood in the background. We had a great trip, even though we didn't get to spend as much alone time as we would have liked.

I second what virginiamama said about making sure the counselors know when you are at Palo or in the spa. They will make every effort not to contact you.

Have a great time.

Denae